Italy World Cup elimination: 'A toxic system' — former Milan youth player links Azzurri's collapse to murky underbelly of Italian football

Italy's elimination against Bosnia in the 2026 World Cup play-offs exposed more than just another sporting failure. Beyond the pitch, the defeat reignited long-standing criticisms of the structure of Italian football — and one of the most striking voices came from within.

The loss to Bosnia confirmed Italy's third consecutive absence from the World Cup, deepening a crisis that can no longer be dismissed as circumstantial. Former Milan academy player Federico Mangiameli used the Azzurri's latest collapse to deliver a furious social media outburst, linking the national team's downfall to an environment he described as "toxic" and "repugnant."

A damning verdict from inside the system

Now 21 and far from the top level of the game, Mangiameli progressed through the youth ranks at Milan, Bologna and Torino before dropping down to amateur club Club Milano. The striker, who also represented the Italian under-15s, drew on his time in the Italian youth system to launch a frontal attack on what he claims goes on behind the scenes.

Rather than treating the elimination as an isolated setback, he argued that the national team's humiliation is a direct reflection of practices that have become normalised in Italian football.

"On one hand, I feel frustrated; on the other, I feel happy. Only those who have lived in this world know how repugnant what really goes on behind the scenes is. Agents pushing their players from lower divisions to Serie C with envelopes of €50,000, Serie A teams and youth teams composed only of foreign players with exorbitant salaries, or coaches who couldn't even decide their starting lineup," he wrote.

The power of Mangiameli's outburst lies in its timing. Italy did not merely miss out on the World Cup — it reinforced the image of a historic powerhouse unable to reform itself despite successive warnings. The four-time world champions have now failed to qualify three times in a row, something unthinkable just a few years ago and devastating for a country that has always seen itself as a central force in European football.

??? ???????? ?????????? from Federico Mangiameli (former U17 and U19 player for AC Milan):

“On one hand I’m frustrated, on the other I’m happy. Only those who have lived in this world know how disgusting what goes on behind it really is.

Agents who push… pic.twitter.com/UhU9QRgFOu
— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) April 1, 2026

A wider indictment, and personal testimony

In that context, the former Milan player's words carry weight precisely because they go beyond blaming a poor generation of players or an under-pressure manager. Mangiameli also recounted episodes of dehumanisation and favouritism, widening his criticism to the behaviour of club directors and the logic that, in his view, governs the entire environment.

"I witnessed shameful things related to money and saw teammates being treated horribly by management. All of this is part of the Italian football system. A toxic system that, thankfully, I left behind some time ago," he said.

"Unlike other sports, it has become something that shouldn't be taken as an example: people who falsify things, favouritism, ignorant and ill-mannered individuals who would do anything for a few coins. And all this is the result," he concluded.

Although these words come from someone who did not make it at the top level, they contribute to a portrait of a football culture that appears to have been failing for some time in the very things that should underpin its reconstruction: development, meritocracy and the credibility of the process.

Italy's last World Cup appearance was in 2014 in Brazil, where the Azzurri were eliminated in the group stage with just three points from a possible nine. They opened with a win over England before defeats to Costa Rica and Uruguay ended their campaign — a premature exit that now sounds like the beginning of a much deeper decline.

Four-time world champions, with titles in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006, Italy also came close to adding to their tally on two other occasions. Runners-up in 1970 and 1994, they were beaten by Brazil on both occasions — first 4-1 in Mexico, and then on penalties in the United States after a goalless draw in normal time.